Award-Winning SHSAT Tutors

Varsity Tutors can help you connect with an experienced SHSAT tutor who can help your student prepare for their upcoming exam. Signing up for private instructional sessions could provide your student with the necessary boost to take their testing skills to a new level. There's no reason your student needs to prepare for the SHSAT alone when Varsity Tutors can quickly connect them with a private instructor who can help them work towards their SHSAT testing goals.

The Specialized High School Admissions Test (SHSAT) is administered to students who want to attend one of New York City's specialized high schools. This exam is one of the determining factors in the admissions process in 8 out of 9 of these schools. The test is mostly given to New York City students in the eighth grade, and it is administered by the Department of Education. However, there is a limited seating test that is available for ninth grade students.

Registration for the SHSAT is open during parts of September and October. If you're interested in having your child take the exam, you will need to contact their school counselor to complete registration. The exam itself is given in late October in various locations throughout the city.

The results of the exam are released in March to the schools. Students are ranked based on the score they earned and then assigned to a school. School assignments are based not only on your student's rank but also on the number of seats available at the various schools and the priority ranking assigned to each school by your child.

Continue reading to learn more about what your student can expect during the SHSAT and how Varsity Tutors can make the process of preparing for the exam less stressful for both you and your child.

What is on the SHSAT?

Students will have a total of three hours to complete both the English Language Arts (ELA) and Mathematics sections of the exam. Each section has slightly less than 60 multiple choice questions. A scaled score is given for the individual sections based on the number of questions answered correctly. The scores are then combined to create a composite score. It is important to note that there is no passing score range for this exam. It is strictly based on the rank your child places in comparison with the approximately 30,000 other students who will take the exam. On any given year between three and four thousand seats at the specialized schools.

The ELA section of the SHSAT is divided into two parts. The first part evaluates your student's ability to identify and correct language errors. Some of the skills assessed here will include grammar, sentence structure, punctuation, capitalization, and other standard English language skills. The second part of the ELA section measures your student's reading comprehension skills. They will have reading passages provided that they must read, analyze, and interpret.

During the Mathematics portion of the SHSAT, your student's ability in solving word problems, exponents, probability, counting, solving equations, calculating percentages, defining number types, solving problems related to number lines and coordinate systems, and other grade level appropriate math skills will be evaluated. It is important to note that your child will not be allowed to use a calculator on their exam. If this is a terrifying proposition for your child, don't worry! A skilled private SHSAT instructor can work with your child to help them develop their math skills without relying on a calculator.

How can SHSAT tutoring help my student prepare for their exam?

The SHSAT measures the understanding of various academic skills your student is assumed to have acquired throughout the entirety of their academic career. Private SHSAT tutoring can help your student to pinpoint and work to correct any knowledge gaps your child may have. It can also provide your student with a comprehensive exam overview, including the information they are most likely to encounter during the SHSAT.

As your student progressed through their elementary and middle school classes, new teachers may have taken for granted that your student had mastered skills from previous years. For example, when your student was introduced to fractions and decimals, it would have been assumed their ability with basic calculations was sufficient. Unfortunately, many students will move on to new grade levels even if they haven't fully mastered all of the skills of their current grade level. This could be as minor as not being able to add quickly or something more significant such as not knowing all of their multiplication tables by heart. If your student needs to work on bringing any of their skills up, they can do this more effectively with the help of a skilled private instructor.

When working with experienced SHSAT tutors, your child's academic needs are always the most important factor in developing any lesson. This is simply not possible in typical classrooms. It can be challenging for classroom teachers to get to know individual students well, and nearly impossible for even the most conscientious teacher to provide individualized learning solutions for each child based on their unique academic needs. When your student studies with a personal SHSAT tutor, on the other hand, they will have their instructor's undivided attention.

A private instructor can take more time to learn more about your student's learning style, educational goals, academic strengths and weaknesses, and their personal interests. The instructor can use this information to design a personalized program of study to help your student maximize their test preparation efforts. The instructor can also customize how content is delivered to your child to help make it more compatible with their individual learning style. Unfortunately, in most classrooms, teachers tend to rely on direct delivery of curriculum via lecture or presentation. While this is an efficient method of teaching, it isn't always what works best for individual students. When your student works individually with your student, they can utilize a variety of instructional modalities that can make the content more easily accessible for your student.

As your student works with their personal SHSAT instructor, their academic needs will change. Since a private instructor is working individually with your student, their sessions can be adjusted to match the new academic goals immediately.

If you want your student to attend one of New York City's prestigious specialized high schools, they must do well on this exam. When the stakes are this high, your student deserves the professional assistance an experienced SHSAT tutor can provide to help them work towards their scoring goals.

How can I get my student started with SHSAT tutoring?

Varsity Tutors can connect you with experienced SHSAT tutors who can work with your student in person or in an online learning environment.

Both formats will allow your student to work with their own SHSAT instructor face-to-face. When you choose the in-person option, your student can meet with their instructor in your home, at a local cafe, or at another nearby public venue. If your student works with an instructor online, all they have to do is log on to the Live Learning Platform provided by Varsity Tutors. This just requires a digital device and a reliable internet connection. When your student enters the secure online learning environment we offer, they will be able to see and speak with their SHSAT instructor. Your student and their private tutor can interact just as they would in person.

The chief difference between working with SHSAT tutors online or in-person is convenience. If you've spent any time looking for a private SHSAT instructor for your child, you have probably already run into how difficult it can be to find someone who is both conveniently located and available during the times your child is free to focus on their test preparation efforts. While this is a localized exam and New York City has an abundance of instructors who can work with your child, the city itself is immense. If your child or the instructor has to travel across town during the busiest times of the day, it can add a significant amount of time to the endeavor. Because of this, some instructors have a small geographic region they will work in, which can make it more challenging to access skilled instructional support at convenient times.

However, if you choose to have your child work with their instructor remotely, these issues are quickly resolved. With online lessons, there is no need to try to reach a designated location, and it can be much easier to find available times to schedule a session.

If you're ready to give your student the support they need as they prepare for one of the most important exams of their academic career, we can help. Whether you want your student to review a few core concepts before the big test day or you want them to spend more time on a comprehensive review, there is a tutoring solution that can help you provide your child with the help they need. Let the experts at Varsity Tutors make the process of finding highly qualified SHSAT tutors who can help your student maximize their test preparation efforts. Contact Varsity Tutors today to get started quickly.